Catalina Connection UCI Health Has Launched a Clinical Affiliation with Catalina Island Medical Center

By: KATHERINE M. CLEMENTS

AVALON — On Jan. 18, UCI Health and Catalina Island Medical Center (CIMC) announced a clinical affiliation between the University of California, Irvine’s leading academic health system, and Catalina Island’s sole provider of emergency, primary and acute care services.

The affiliation will build on a collaboration launched in 2016 when UCI Health began providing emergency medicine specialists to expand care in the medical center’s emergency department.

“Working with UCI Health raises the level and quality of care available to our community,” said Jason Paret, CEO of Catalina Island Medical Center, in a press release from Jan. 18. “This new stage in our collaboration opens the door to expanding existing clinical services and increasing our community’s access to specialty care.”

As Avalon’s only hospital, CMIC serves the clinical needs of Santa Catalina Island’s 4,000 residents and the more than one million visitors who travel there yearly. The Catalina Island Medical Group serves the island’s medical needs with full-time physicians and nurse practitioners who are supported by ancillary hospital resources, including diagnos- tic imaging, therapy services, nutritional counseling, and clinical laboratory services.

“We believe the successful relationship with CIMC in emergency medicine provides a solid foundation to explore the potential for UCI Health to support CIMC and the Catalina Island Medical Center Foundation in their mission to provide the highest quality healthcare for residents and visitors,” said Chad. T. Lefteris, CEO of UCI Health, in the press release. “This affiliation opens the door to [the] possible expansion of primary and specialty care as CIMC grows.”

The CIMC emergency department evaluates and treats 2,600 cases yearly, a 33 percent increase since the UCI Health collaboration began seven years ago. In addition, patients have consistently ranked CIMC’s emergency services as among the best in the nation.

CIMC and its predecessor, Avalon Municipal Hospital, have provided medical care at 100 Falls Canyon Road in Avalon since 1960. CIMC is one of the smallest hospitals in the state due to its unique island location. It historically has provided many of the health services typically found only at larger facilities. The original building had six beds and could serve eight people at a time. Subsequent expansions added emergency and operat- ing rooms and laboratory, X-ray, and observation spaces. There are currently 102 employees.

As Avalon’s only hospital, Catalina Island Medical Center serves the medical needs of Santa Catalina Island’s 4,000 residents and the more than one million visitors who travel to Catalina annually.

In 1982, a new wing was built, adding patient rooms, a space for physical therapy, and administrative offices. In the mid-2000s, the hospital completely remodeled the emergency and operating rooms and added new clinic exam rooms and space for physicians. CIMC also purchased a new CT scanner and began of-

From page 9 tion. On Nov. 26, 2022, JBY acquired The Olde Boatyard, the new name for the pre-existing boatyard owned by the legendary sailor Carl Eichenlaub.

Shadow Tender

From page 10

If you really want to make an entrance, the Nouvoyage limousine tender is your ride. According to nouvoyage.com, it is “a brilliantly designed craft that is [all] at once artisanal, supremely functional, and altogether desirable. The perfect vehicle for those accustomed to living the good life, non-stop.”

The company suggests that the amphibious tender allows guests to spend another day or so on shore; it then could drive on land to meet the mothership at its next destination— assuming it’s on the same island or ground.

The Limousine Tender 33 holds 12 passengers and two crew. A 500-hp Yanmar diesel generates electricity to power a 130-hp Remy electric motor on each wheel on land or two Hamilton jets on the water. The limousine’s underbody is built in a modified catamaran configuration.

The tender costs between $2 million and $3.5 million, depending on the desired cabin amenities.

For more information and to read more about the tender’s features, please visit http://nouvoyage.com.

Eichenlaub passed away at the age of 83 in 2013. Still, his legacy lives on— best known for the winning boats he built (Lightnings, Snipes, Stars) and for his determination and remarkably innovative way of keeping friends and competitors alike up and running on the water. Working out of a 40-foot container full of tools and supplies, Eichenlaub served as the U.S. team’s boatwright at six Pan Am and eight Olympic Games. Given the strength of those talents, it would be easy to forget fering telemedicine services to connect island patients with medical specialists on the mainland. that Carl Eichenlaub was also a formidable sailor, twice winning the Lightning North Americans, finishing second once, and finishing second in the Snipe Nationals. JBY is excited and honored by the acquisition and the opportunity to celebrate the legacy that Eichenlaub created.

Future goals include the development of a new CIMC hospital that will meet the state of California’s mandate that all hospitals comply with existing seismic safety standards by 2030.

For more information, please visit https://cimedicalcenter.org/ future-hospital-plans/.

Jeff Brown’s acquisition of the Eichenlaub Boatyard location on Shelter Island is hardly a small deal. Brown will send the location through two phases of improvements, including work done to the street-level workspaces and the dock facilities.

“We are going to engage and welcome the boating public in the Boat yard to interact and observe the craftsman there,” said Brown. “We will welcome customers of The Ketch Grill and Taps next